The Problem(s) with Yaoi Manga

Anyone who has read a good deal of yaoi manga will be able to identify these problems pretty quickly. They're the lines that make you roll your eyes, the plot developments that make you shake your head and wonder if you should keep reading or just find something else. They are all the instances where believability comes crashing down or cliches dominate.

Some of these are inherent in many genres of manga, while others I've seen are more a yaoi thing.

1) the jealous ex who randomly enters the manga and messes things up for the main couple
2) the newcomer who is ridiculously good-looking and tries to steal the show, and one of the main characters, from the other
3) bullying, kidnapping, blackmail...
4) "It's the only way."
5)
6) the magical make-over that turns someone unnattractive into someone drop-dead gorgeous; often unrealistic
7) damsel-in-distress plotlines
8) "You must do it in order to pay off your debt to me."
9) the character is assaulted - violently and/or romantically - and makes no struggle against it despite not wanting it
10) rich characters, particularly semes, who manipulate the world with money to the point of shattering believability

And much, much more. Have any to add? I'm sure I haven't covered nearly all of them.

Review 167: Sorenari ni Shinken Nan Desu

Art: 8
Plot: 8.5
Characters: 9
Sex: 7.5

Oosawa works at some kind of noodle shop, and Yoshioka is always coming in (with different boyfriends) to order his favorites. Oosawa is divorced - his wife walked out on him - and takes care of his kindergarten-age daughter. He thinks of Yoshioka as a careless man who goes from one partner to another, but one day Oosawa's daughter gets sick and he needs help taking care of her. Yoshioka has an apartment nearer to the doctor's and to the noodle shop, so he offers for Oosawa and his daughter to stay there temporarily given the emergency.

As Yoshioka shows his caring side and Oosawa finds out more about him, they grow closer. Finally, after numerous mishaps and Oosawa's misgivings (he thinks he's completely straight), they get together and start to create a rewarding life together (hooray).

Art is pretty good. The plot is much better than I expected - nice flow, pacing, etcetera. The characters are great; I didn't expect the daughter to have any depth in a yaoi manga, but she was a very sympathetic character. Oosawa and Yoshioka both have deep backstories and come off as very likable.

The sex was different, but not bad. Seeing as Oosawa is a 'virgin' to guys, it makes sense for it to be awkward the first time. But their interactions in general are very cute.

Overall, 33/40.

Recommendation: If you like sweet stories and cute romances.

Review 166: Dolce

Haha. Cropped out the guy with the beard.

Art: 8
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Sex: 7.5

Hmm... this is a hard one to judge. On one hand, there's a fun cafe-with-cute-guys theme like in many yaoi, and the characters really are very good. The art is excellent (though I detest beards, even small ones), and the plot is pretty good, too. But there is one faux-rape scene... surprisingly, however, it is dealt with in a much more realistic way, in which the uke actually fights back and slings some punches afterward, and he doesn't simply forgive the seme for it. I appreciate this portrayal much more than any of the others I've seen so far.

Basically, the waiter guy on the far left of the picture is the son of the cafe's owner. He's a slacker and flirt at first, but the guy in the middle (head chef) reforms him with the added incentive of how much the heir likes him. The guy on the right is the naive but funny guy who's training to be a chef, and the bearded guy to the right who got cut off is a chef who joins them later, who also loves teasing everyone with pranks or by misguiding words.

It's cute and amusing for the most part, and when there are serious moments, they're handled well. Impressive yaoi that still delivers sexual tension.

31.5/40.

Recommendation: If you like things like Antique Bakery and Coffee Prince.

Review 165: Go Go Kikaku

Art: 7.5
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Sex: 5

Another 'wtf' yaoi. This 17-year-old kid (who looks 12) gets mistaken for someone else and sexually pounced by a slightly older guy. This leads to awkward hotel sex, and for some reason the uke doesn't manage to tell the seme he's the wrong person until after. This leads to some confusion, and the uke gets introduced to the seme's group of associates, called Go Go Kikaku. They do lots of random jobs, anything from car-washing to babysitting to (naturally) hush-hush prostitution. Or so it looked like, anyway.

And of course, the uke is offered a job with them, with the result that whenever he's on a two-man job with another associate, they end up slutting it up with him. He 'protests' (yeah, right) but it eventually overrun with lust and surrenders to whichever seme it happens to be. Greaaaat plot.

Characters have little to no personality, especially the blow-up doll of an uke. The art is actually okay, sadly. The sex, as I said, is bland and often ridiculous with the uke's fake protests.

22.5/40.

Recommendation: If you liked 'Junk!Boys'. Seriously.

Review 164: Elle to Takara

Art: 6
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Sex: 5

You know, I knew it was going to be bad, just from looking at the cover. But I had no idea what was in store... so I'll say it quickly. Elle the wolf cub chases Takara the rabbit, only to befriend him. One day, Takara spontaneously sexes up Elle. Woo, pedophilia!

I think I've said enough. Even if this was an acceptable story - it isn't - the art is bad, the story extremely brief and with no distinguishable plot, the characters are out of a kid's picture book, and the sex is very graphic and very disturbing.

21/40.

Recommendation: Noooo, sir.

Review 163: Freezing Flame

Art: 7
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
Sex: 6

Akira Kanbe always draws the exact same uke - ick. Plus, the plot is another of those same recycled, tired old plots. This time it's the 'wealthy company heir guy outsources the uke's smaller company except he is willing to negotiate... for SEX'. So, in other words, L'Etoile Solitaire (huurk). The characters seemed kinda watery as well. Obviously, the sex was lame and unimaginative, as expected from such lack of creativity in the plot.

26/40.

Recommendation: If you liked L'Etoile Solitaire. Har har.

Review 162: Tsumasaki ni Kiss

Art: 6.5
Plot: 7
Characters: 7.5
Sex: 7

Hmm... the art for this one isn't that great. If you look closely you'll see the lack of detail in most of the panels. It could be said to be a certain style of artwork, but I still don't like it. The plot - basic Yakuza Romeo-Juliet type deal with a 'dumb, persistent flirt' character thrown in to try to get Juliet away from Romeo - is okay but a little simple and overdone. The characters are fun, but the third wheel guy is just annoying. The sex is okay but the art style leaves much to be desired.

28/40.

Recommendation: Not even for yakuza-lovers. Because there's very little actual yakuza action in this.